“The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” is a far out concept album. The general premise is that a bisexual alien picks up some radio waves from earth and decides to join in on the fun. However being an outlandish bisexual alien, his vision of rock and roll is radical. This is also set to the backdrop of the earth coming to an end as the opening track of the album is “Five Years” as in “earth is really dying” - “five years, that’s all we got” one of my earliest Music In Reviews tackled that song: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2011/03/may-2007-david-bowie-five-years.html and it also topped my list of 27 songs about the end of the earth post: http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2012/11/27-songs-about-end-of-world.html The final act in the Ziggy Stardust concept album is the song “Rock N Roll Suicide” where the character Ziggy dies and with him the earth goes too, which I believe is meant to metaphorically represent the narcissism of the Ziggy character, as if the world could not go on without him.
In between the announcement about the end of, and the act of, the end of the world, the album takes us on a strange ride with songs of tripped out space rock and roll. Earlier tracks are about Ziggy dreaming of being a rock star like “Moonage Daydream” and “Star” then he decides to come down to earth in “Starman” and by the time we reach tracks like “Ziggy Stardut” and Suffragette City” Ziggy is the world’s biggest rock star, at least in the narrative of the story. Bonus tracks like “Sweet Head” and later on the “Aladdin Sane” album the Rolling Stones cover of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” are bluntly suggestive of Ziggy’s bisexuality, what with him bragging about how good he gives head in “Sweet Head” and transforming one of the most suggestive heterosexual songs on the radio at the time, “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” into a aggressively gay song. Ziggy’s bisexuality may just be scene dressing in the overall concept for the album and story but it is a significant aspect to Mr. Bowie’s life at that time.
Sweet Head
Just in case you were unsure if Ziggy Stardust was bisexual or not.
Now we know what a bisexual alien rock star looks like. |
“Lady Stardust” is a very good song right in the middle of this fiasco, I mean both symbolically and literally, literally as in it is the sixth track on the eleven track album. “Lady Stardust” at a glance might appear as if a female equivalent to Ziggy Stardust has joined him on earth, or perhaps this song is to introduce the bride of Ziggy, but even a cursory glance at the lyrics lets us know how extremely incorrect these assumption are:
“People stared at the makeup on his face.
Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace.
The boy in the bright blue jeans,
Jumped up on the stage,
And lady stardust sang his songs,
Of darkness and disgrace.”
People stare at the makeup on HIS face?
So after learning “Lady Stardust” is about a male rock star wearing makeup and looking feminine, I would naturally think it was about Ziggy Stardust and his cross-dressing and makeup wearing ways. Lured by the music, people are struggling to make sense of the bisexual alien rock star, which is a sentiment I imagine most rock and roll fans experienced with the release of “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” That makes sense right? This song is actually about Ziggy’s vague gender neutrality and that aspect of himself confusing people here on earth.
However, the original name for “Lady Stardust” was “He Was Alright (Song for Marc)” and the Marc is question is Marc Bolan, front man of T.Rex and inventor of glam rock.
He was Alright (Song for Marc) - Lady Stardust Demo
“And he was alright, the band was altogether.
Yes he was alright, the song went on forever.
And he was awful nice,
Really quite out of sight,
And he sang all night long.”
I really like this part of the song, a calm moment telling us everything is alright, no matter how weird you are.
So now we know that “Lady Stardust” is actually Marc Bolan and this song an ode to him. “Lady Stardust” is not just a tribute, it is sort of a love song, which could mean that Bowie might have had a bit of a crush on fellow rock star Bolan, or at least he envisioned someone being in love with him;
“Femme fatales emerged from shadows,
To watch this creature fair.
Boys stood upon their chairs,
To make their point of view.
I smiled sadly for a love I could not obey.
Lady stardust sang his songs,
Of darkness and dismay.”
A love he could not obey? This line seems odd coming from Bowie, even odder considering this song’s existence on the concept album about a bisexual alien rock star. Also if this song was about Marc Bolan there are even less barriers to consider since he too was bisexual, I mean of course he was; he invented glam rock. So why could he not obey?
Marc Bolan, not exactly the epitome of masculinity. |
Here is an idea, the initial theory that “Lady Stardust” is about a perfect mate for Ziggy Stardust and the necessary working theory that “Lady Stardust” is an ode to Marc Bolan are both correct. Like so many things the truth lies somewhere in between, Lady Stardust is probably an amalgamation of Marc Bolan and Ziggy Stardust; this explains why the initial title was “He Was Alright (Song for Marc)” but changed later as additional elements to the song and story were added and it no longer accurately or appropriately describe Bolan.
From all this we should be able to conclude the story of this track tells the events of Ziggy Stardust coming to earth and falling in love with Marc Bolan of T.Rex, or at least a caricature of him. However being a somewhat gender neutral creature with desires for both earthly human genders, there is no confusion in his mind referring to Lady Stardust as both a man and a woman.
I am still no expert in fashion. |
I would argue that “Lady Stardust” is one of the best songs of “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” which I would argue is David Bowie’s single best album, which means “Lady Stardust” ranks pretty high in my personal favorites of Bowie songs. I am not the sort of man who would let convoluted inspirations of attraction distract me from the quality of a great rock ballad, but can you imagine the attitudes of the average person in 1972 when “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars” first came out? It must have blown their minds.
I cannot be the only person in all human history to have wondered about this very special song, created by one of the greatest song writers of all time, for another great song writer, and all the complicated dynamics involved therein. What do you think?
Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.
- King of Braves
I feel Marc lives on through this music
ReplyDeleteit was amazing lesting to him every morning .. very cool thanks for sharing and post ... العاب فلاش برق
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